


Satisfied

by shinysylver



Series: Soulmate 'Verse [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Friendship, M/M, Pre-Slash, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-13
Updated: 2011-02-13
Packaged: 2017-10-15 15:55:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/162459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinysylver/pseuds/shinysylver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite a miserable Valentine's date, Danny finds satisfaction in a simple moment with Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Satisfied

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Hawaii Five-0.
> 
> This story takes place long before the events in **Cinders** and **Letting Go** so it is lighter in nature. I thought it would be appropriate for the Valentine's Day holiday. They haven't gotten together at all at this point.
> 
> This is for my H50 prompt table in the [](http://community.livejournal.com/h50_50/profile)[**h50_50**](http://community.livejournal.com/h50_50/) Community. The prompt was **FULL**. My prompt table can be found here: [Sensational Sensations](http://shinysylver.livejournal.com/52922.html). I seem to have come up with the bright idea to connect some or all of the fic I write for this table into one big ‘Verse. I have several stories planned out at the moment but they won’t necessarily be written or posted in chronological order and most will be able to stand alone as well. If you want to see the order they go in I am keeping track [here](http://shinysylver.livejournal.com/59213.html#cutid1).

Danny stared in distaste at the plate in front of him. There were two carrots and a tiny sliver of some unidentifiable meat drowning in a sickly looking white sauce. It was all arranged “artistically” on an over-sized plate. He frowned; the size of the plate alone was mocking him, emphasizing how tiny the meal was.

“Mmmm,” Elizabeth moaned. “This is the best truffle sauce on the island.”

Danny looked across the table at his date. Chin’s girlfriend--or fiancé, he wasn’t really sure--had set him up with one of her coworkers for Valentine’s Day. Danny hadn’t really wanted to go but it had been several years since he split with Rachel and he couldn’t really think of a good excuse to get out of it. Not when both Chin and Kono had been looking at him with worried eyes.

“Truffles?” Danny asked in distaste, poking at the food suspiciously. “I hate mushrooms.”

Elizabeth met his eyes and frowned. “So Daniel, Malia tells me you’re from New Jersey. How did you end up in Hawaii?”

Danny felt his eye twitch when she used his full name. Rachel was the only person who called him Daniel and it annoyed him to no end. Rachel was also fond of French restaurants and truffle sauce. He speared one of the carrots in frustration.

“My ex-wife moved here with our daughter.” He answered.

“Oh, so you’re divorced…and a father.” She commented, avoiding his eyes by staring down at her own food.

Danny sighed. It was obvious that Malia had left out a lot of the details when telling Elizabeth about him. “I have an eight year old girl.”

“How lovely!” Elizabeth said, overly bright, as she looked up.

“She is lovely.” Danny said before they lapsed into an awkward silence.

Danny really hated first dates. He hated the awkward silences and the little lies you told each other. It was all too much like a job interview and in this case he didn’t think he wanted the job. Neither did she, if her discomfort at his parental status was any indication. He had no idea why Chin and Malia had thought a snooty doctor who liked French restaurants would be a good match for him.

If there was one thing his relationship with Rachel had taught him it was that he needed someone who was on his wavelength or else they’d end up growing apart. He needed someone he could be himself around without any pretenses.  
He wanted someone who was okay with his job and not with him despite the fact he was a cop. And more than anything, what he really wanted was someone who he could just take to the sports bar for a few beers or out to Sal’s for a steak.

At the thought of beer and steak his brain drifted to Steve. He knew that Catherine was supposed to be on shore leave tonight and that Steve was planning to make her steak on the beach. For some reason Danny found the thought depressing. He idly pushed the last carrot around on the plate, lost in thought. He must be hungrier than he realized if he was jealous of Catherine eating steak with Steve.

He just wanted a steak. That was all.

“Would you like any dessert?” The waiter asked, jolting Danny from his thoughts.

“We’re fine.“ Danny said, not even bothering to look at Elizabeth. “Just the check.”

**

Half an hour later Danny was driving away from Elizabeth’s house. They had called it a night after dinner. He had walked her to her door the way his father had taught him but he hadn’t even tried for a goodnight kiss. They both knew that they wouldn’t be seeing each other again. It was a bad match and he was going to have a few words with Chin about it in the morning.

In his opinion a bad date was always worse than no date. It made him feel lonelier than he would have if he’d stayed at home watching a movie like he usually did on his nights off, at least on the nights that he didn’t go out to the bar with the team or over to Steve’s for a beer. What he wouldn’t give for a beer with friends right now.

Danny looked around and realized that he wasn’t too far from Steve’s house. After only a momentary hesitation he turned to head in that direction. As he drove, he tried not to think about why he was heading to Steve’s house on Valentine’s Day when he knew that Catherine was going to be there.

When he reached Steve’s driveway, he realized that the only vehicles there belonged to Steve. He didn’t see any sign of the car that Catherine usually drove. Just in case he was wrong, he dug out his cell phone and sent Steve a text asking how his evening was going.

 _Cat cancelled. U?_ Steve responded.

 _Chin’s dead._ He replied before pulling further into the driveway.

 _I’ve got beer_. Steve texted, even as Danny was walking up to the front door.

Danny opened the door, not bothering to knock and walked through the house and out the back door. Steve was sitting out on the beach, a steak on the grill set up next to him.

“What?” Steve asked, turning to look at Danny. “Were you texting from my front driveway?”

“You were on the way home.” Danny replied with a shrug. “I didn’t see Catherine’s car.”

“Her leave got cancelled.” Steve said opening the cooler and handing Danny a beer. He looked pointedly at his watch. “Your date that bad?”

“Don’t want to talk about it.” Danny said before gesturing at the steak. “Got another one of those?”

Steve raised an eyebrow but got up and went to the kitchen to get another steak.

“Thanks,” Danny said once Steve had the other steak on the grill. “She had me at one of those French restaurants.”

“Ah.” Steve said nodding in understanding.

They both leaned back and watched the sun set over the ocean in silence as they waited for their steaks to cook. It was a comfortable silence, the kind that made Danny feel like he belonged. He was usually a talker, talking to fill the silence but sometimes there were people that he knew so well that he didn’t have to speak. He didn’t feel driven to fill up the space between them. Steve was one of those people, at least on quiet nights like this when he wasn’t doing something insane.

“Medium-rare?” Steve questioned as he put Danny’s steak on a plate and handed it to him.

Danny nodded, taking the steak. When he finished eating, he finally felt full for the first time all night, in more ways than one.


End file.
